The Girl with the Fire Hair
by marauderluverz
Summary: What if Severus had made a new friend after Lily? A friend who could've stopped him from making the huge mistake he did. Sev/OC begins after marauders 5th year.
1. Chapter 1

**The Girl with the Fire Hair **by marauderluverz

Chapter 1:

Desiree Gonzales closed her eyes tight as she pointed her wand at her fire red hair. She was tired of being teased, and now that her family had moved into a new neighborhood again, she had another chance. She muttered the spell from the "Beauty Spell book" on the desk in front of her and waited. Her head tingled, every strand of her hair stood on end with static. Then suddenly it calmed and she felt the coolness of her hair on the back of her neck and shoulders again.

The young witch opened her eyes. Desiree gasped. Her hair was now a deep brown. She couldn't help but laugh; her hair finally matched her name. People would always ask her how she could have a name like Desiree Gonzales and be a redhead. The fact of the matter was while her dad was Hispanic, her mother was Irish with bright red hair.

She turned to go downstairs for breakfast. She couldn't wait to see what her parents thought.

"What have you done to your hair?" Her mother exclaimed. "Come here I'm sure your father can fix it with magic right away. Don't you worry."

"No, Mum." she said pulling away from her mother. "I did this on purpose."

Her father looked up from the edition of the Daily Prophet that he was reading. He gave his daughter a reproving look and shook his head, but secretly Desiree knew it was for her mother's benefit. Her dad didn't really mind when she did little things like this. He said it was completely normal for a teenager to be unhappy with their appearance, and when she got tired of this look, he knew she would change it back.

Desiree quickly choked down her waffles so she wouldn't have to endure a lecture from her mum about her hair and how she should be proud of it. In record time, the fourteen-year-old witch jumped up from her chair and placed her plate and fork in the sink.

"I'm going to go out and explore, Is that all right?" she asked.

Her dad gave her a wave to mean "yes" and she ran out the back door. It was summer so her light blue tank top and jean shorts would be fine. She walked barefoot out onto the grass. There was a huge tree in the side yard, she could see it from her window. That was one of the things her dad had complained about about the house. "Now the neighbors will complain every time the branches start to creep over the fence, and I'll have to climb up there and cut them down. I should just cut down the tree."

"No, daddy!" she had protested. "You can't cut it down."

"And why can't I?"

She had looked at him with her saddest eyes, and said "Because it's the only thing I know will be there, and I need something to comfort me since I won't have any friends."

After that her dad had agreed. He always felt bad about how much they had moved. It was due to his job but now he had promised her they wouldn't move again until she finished school.

It was the least he could do since she had been forced to be home schooled. Her mother had said no to her going to a wizarding school. She had said, "When she graduates she'll need to know how to be around muggles and hide her magic, and I don't see why she can't start now."

There had been arguments in the beginning but Desiree had given up after a while and was starting to be okay with it. Her mother taught her all the muggle subjects and her dad taught her magic. She had to admit she kind of liked their little system now.

Desiree looked at the tree, trying to figure out the best way to climb it. She had just grabbed the bottom branches to hoist herself up to the next ones when someone spoke.

"You know, you probably shouldn't climb the tree."

She glanced around and saw a boy who looked a few years older than her leaning against the fence in the next yard.

"And why shouldn't I?" she asked. "Is it because I'm a girl?"

He shrugged, "No, go for it. I just thought you should know that the last kid who climbed it fell from the top and died. He hit every branch on the way down." The boy turned and began to walk away.

Desiree climbed down from the tree and ran to the fence, she pushed a bench against it and climbed up so she could see into his yard. But he was gone.

Desiree slumped down onto the wooden bench. Who was that boy? She wondered. He had long black hair, and deep dark eyes, but the thing she remembered the most was how angry he looked. Not with her necessarily just in general. She sighed and stood up, she walked over to the gate and exited it to her front yard. The young witch walked over to the spot where the grass looked the greenest and fluffiest, before falling on her back onto it.

Sixteen-year-old Severus Snape entered his bedroom slamming the door behind him. Why did they have to live next door to some stupid muggle girl and her family? He walked to his bed and threw himself onto it. Then immediately he sat up, and looked out his window. He thought he had glimpsed that muggle girl. Yes, sure enough that girl was lying on her lawn. With her eyes closed, nonetheless. Was she a complete idiot? Didn't she realize how defenseless she looked?

He had half a mind to open his window and throw something at her. He glanced at his slingshot from when he had made when he was a kid, there was still a pile of small rocks next to it, that he had used to shoot at birds and squirrels that made too much noise.

Severus looked back out the window. He shouldn't, he knew he shouldn't. And yet he walked over and grabbed it before returning to the window. He held up the slingshot and loaded it, then aimed.

A small pebble went soaring through the air and hit Desiree in the arm.

Severus heard a small squeak, and watched as Desiree swatted at an imaginary bug. Then he took another pebble, a bigger one this time and shot again.

This time Desiree got up when she was hit.

"Stupid mosquitoes!" she shouted.

Severus smirked to himself. That should teach her not to lie in the front yard looking like a helpless idiot.

**A/N: Hey there! Plz take the time to review and let me know what you thought. I'm waiting to see entirely where this story will go. Feel free to leave me ideas.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Two days later, Desiree was back out in her front yard. But this time she had put on bug repellent. She had had to go buy some from the store so it had taken a day, but now she could relax, without being bitten to death by stupid little bugs.

Severus was up in his bedroom, he was getting ready to go out. He knew Lily had gotten a new job, as a lifeguard at the community pool. He wasn't stalking her, he was just making sure nothing happened to her. He knew what sort of people lived around here and knew that there were all sorts of creeps that would try something.

So since today was her first day on the job, he would follow her.

As he exited his house he didn't even notice his next door neighbor, but she noticed him.

"Where is he going?" Desiree asked herself, as she watched him head down the street.

She jumped up and ran to her front door, she threw it open and yelled in, "Mum, I'm going exploring! I'll be back by lunch."

She didn't wait for an answer, she just hurried after the strange boy next door.

Severus made it to Privet Drive before he hid in the bushes. He couldn't chance Lily seeing him. He waited a few minutes, it was seven forty-five. Severus knew she started at eight and he knew she would be punctual. He also knew how long it took to walk to the pool, he and Lily used to go together all the time.

At seven forty-eight, Lily exited her house and began walking down the sidewalk toward the pool.

Severus ran into the forest, but stayed near enough to the edge to see Lily.

He was silent, she would never know he was there.

Crack!

For a moment, Severus thought somebody had apparated nearby, then he realized it was just a stick, except, he had not stepped on a stick.

Desiree cursed her large feet as she dove into a bush. She had been doing so well too. He hadn't even noticed her following him following that girl. But why was he following her?

She peered out and when she saw nothing but forest she climbed out. "Darn, now he's gotten away." she muttered to herself. She hurried through the forest to catch up, all the while trying to figure out why he was following that redheaded girl.

Then she realized what it had to be. "He's going to kill her." she breathed. Suddenly she felt very cold, what if he caught her. He'd kill her too.

"What are you doing?"

Desiree screamed and smacked Severus in the face.

He could only stare at her.

"I'm warning you, I know origami," she threatened.

Severus smirked at the girl before him, "You know how to make paper birds?" he asked.

"I was hoping you wouldn't know what it was." she replied. "But please don't kill me, I mean I haven't done anything to deserve to be killed. I barely even know you." she pleaded.

"Why would I kill you? I mean sure you're annoying, but-"

"Weren't you going to kill that other girl? I only figured you were going to kill me too then, to keep your secret."

"I'm not-"

"But really, I didn't see anything. Anything that could get you sent too jail. They'd never believe me anyway." she rambled on.

"Will you shut up for a second?" Severus shouted.

Desiree just nodded.

"I'm not going to kill you, or Lily." he announced.

Desiree cocked her head to the side. "So her name's Lily?"

"That's not the point."

"Well, then why were you following her?" Desiree asked.

Severus worked to control the urge to turn the stupid girl in front of him into a rabbit. "That's none of your business. Just go home."

"Fine," Desiree said, "Then I guess I'll just go ask Lily." She started to march away, but Severus quickly grabbed her arm. Nearly yanking it from its socket.

"Don't you dare." he hissed.

Desiree stood on her tiptoes to look at him better. "Then tell me why."

Severus sighed. "Fine. I was just making sure she got to her new job safely. Are you happy now?"

Desiree smiled, "Oh, well, I guess that's kind of sweet."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." he muttered as he began walking towards the pool again.

"So is she your girlfriend?"

He spun around. "Go home. Now."

Desiree just nodded and ran. His tone had been so threatening. His eyes had been so very angry. She shivered despite the summer heat. Obviously that girl was not his girlfriend, and she wondered why he had gotten angry instead of just telling her so.

Suddenly she knew what she had to do. Apologize. But maybe a note would suffice because she really didn't want to have to talk to him again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I still don't have any reviews and have been losing my inspiration. Please if you have any interest in this story, drop me a review. Otherwise I will be deleting this story for the time being.**

Chapter 3:

The next morning, Desiree woke up early and got out a piece of notebook paper and a pen. She wrote a short sorry note and signed her name at the bottom before sticking it in an envelope. She had a sudden idea. Her mom had just gotten a summer job at a local restaurant, and had given Desiree some coupons to use. She grabbed one and stuffed it into the enevelope, then she hurried outside and to the porch of her next door neighbor. She waited a minute, trying to decide what she should do. Finally she reached up and cautiously rang the doorbell, praying desperately that Severus was still asleep.

After a moment, the door opened to reveal a small, thin woman with long dark hair.

"How can I help you?" she asked Desiree.

Desiree smiled, this was definitely Severus's mom, and she was grateful that she at least seemed friendly.

"Hi, Mrs. Snape. My name is Desiree Gonzales, I live next door."

"Oh, right you're the family that moved in next door. I'm sorry I haven't been by to welcome you-" Eileen Snape began.

"No, no. That's not what I'm here about. I'm sure you're very busy. I was actually just hoping you could give this to Severus for me."

Eileen smiled at the girl before her. "Of course. Did you want to come in for a minute? I could go get him and you could give it to him yourself." she offered.

Desiree's eyes went wide and she shook her head wildly. "Oh, no, I- um, I have to help my mum with, um some stuff. Thank you, Mrs. Snape!" she then turned and ran back down the porch steps and over to her own lawn and into her house. She closed the front door behind her and leaned against it, breathing heavily. "That was close." she muttered to herself.

An hour later, when Severus finally woke up and went downstairs to eat breakfast, he noticed two things- one, his mum was already gone, probably out running errands; two, there was an envelope with his name on it, lying on the table.

He walked over to the table and picked up the envelope, he flipped it over and carefully opened it, inside was a small folded piece of paper. He was curious now, what if it was from Lily?

"Severus,

I am sorry about yesterday. I don't know what I did to upset you, but I'm still sorry. I'm glad you aren't a murderer though. Please forgive me.

-Desiree"

He sighed, then crumpled up the paper and threw it back onto the table. He honestly didn't give a care about this girl. They barely even knew each other, and they weren't friends, so why did she care if he forgave her?

He picked up the envelope and the crumpled note, but when he did something fell out of the envelope. He picked it up off the floor. It was a coupon, for a free bag of chips.

Severus stuffed the coupon into his jeans pocket, and then threw away the note and envelope. Then he made himself breakfast.


End file.
